Quango boss selection panel 'not told details'

AN ASSEMBLY Member on the panel that recommended the appointment of the new chair of education quango Elwa says full details about the crash of a company of which she had been a director should have been disclosed before she got the job.

AN ASSEMBLY Member on the panel that recommended the appointment of the new chair of education quango Elwa says full details about the crash of a company of which she had been a director should have been disclosed before she got the job.

Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black, who chairs the National Assembly's education committee, said he was unhappy that "controversial" matters relating to Sheila Drury's Flintshire electronics company Kemitron only came to light in yesterday's Western Mail.

Conservative education spokesman David Davies has called for the resignation of Mrs Drury because of questions surrounding the demise of Kemitron. Joint administrators said they had found evidence the firm's assets had been sold at less than market value to its holding company, SJMJ Ltd, of which Mrs Drury's husband was and remains a director.

Kemitron went into administration in February 2001, less than six weeks after Mrs Drury resigned as a director. She is due to take over as chair of Elwa at the end of next week.

In a letter to The Western Mail following our story in yesterday's paper, Mr Black states, "In your lead article you quote an Assembly Government spokesperson as saying that 'Sheila Drury was appointed in accordance with the Assembly's public appointments procedures'. The spokesperson then goes on to refer to my involvement in the selection panel and implies that a full declaration of all matters relating to Kemitron and its parent company, SJMJ Holdings Ltd, was made on the application form and at the interview.

"As a member of that interview panel I think it is only right that I put the record straight. My recollection is that there was no discussion at the interview about the circumstances of the collapse of Kemitron.

"I relied on the work carried out by the civil servants in ensuring that the people who came to us for interview were suitable and appropriate.

"Having read your article and the interview with Sheila Drury in your paper, I can see no reason why our decision to advise in favour of her appointment should have been any different, though I may have wanted to ask about it at the panel. Companies go under every day all around Wales for a variety of reasons. Often they do so in circumstances in which money is owed to creditors. In many cases the experience of those involved in that collapse has led them to start again and build bigger, more successful businesses.

"That is the entrepreneurial spirit that is needed in Wales and is all too often lacking. My only regret is that a Government spokesperson in defending the decision to appoint Sheila Drury, has given misleading information that imputed knowledge to me as a panel member that I did not have. That sort of defensive spin is not acceptable to me."

Mr Black added, "Mrs Drury did mention that one of her companies had gone into administration after she left it, but none of the controversial details were mentioned."

Tory AM Mark Isherwood said, "I've been contacted by members of the North Wales business community who've expressed concerns about the appointment. I'm not suggesting any impropriety in Mrs Drury's business dealings, but in my view the new Chair of Elwa should be a beacon of good business practice. From her own account, it seems she was not aware how bad the situation had become in her own company."

Plaid Cymru Assembly Leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said, "Elwa stumbles from one crisis to the next. The Minister must now make a full statement to the National Assembly about these latest concerns."

A spokesman for the Assembly Government said, "Mrs Drury's completed application form was seen by all panel members. This made it clear that one of the Kemitron Companies with which she had been associated had been sold through administration, after she herself had left it.

"At interview she referred to the fact that the company had failed. She explained the prevailing operating difficulties in general terms and outlined the approach taken to protect jobs, sustain a viable business, and give a public account. The details of the company's circumstances and of its administration were not raised, and there was no suggestion of impropriety at any stage."

We have been asked to point out that current Elwa chair Enid Rowlands, who we yesterday reported was not appointed for a second term, did not in fact seek re-appointment for a second term in accordance with her family plans and that there was no connection between this decision and the financial irregularities within Elwa, which she brought to the attention of the Welsh Assembly Government. We are happy to clarify the position.